Showing results for: “sirius xm merger”
An Interesting Theory on Microsoft-Yahoo
The Economist (HT: 26econ.com) sketches out an interesting theory on the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo merger: The only grounds on which a trustbuster could plausibly oppose Microsoft buying Yahoo!—that it is possible to exercise monopoly power in online search and advertising—surely apply even more strongly to Google. Indeed, some antitrust experts are surprised that Google has not ... An Interesting Theory on Microsoft-Yahoo
FTC Unilateral Effects Workshop
The FTC recently released its agenda for its upcoming public workshop on February 12 on “Unilateral Effects Analysis in Litigation.” The announcement motivates the conference as follows: Among economists, unilateral effects is a widely accepted theory of competitive harm. Yet, the federal antitrust agencies have experienced limited success litigating differentiated product cases in district courts ... FTC Unilateral Effects Workshop
Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?
At Overcoming Bias, Robin Hanson points to the absence of decision markets evaluating competitive conditions in the post-merger world as evidence that “these companies are just not serious about finding the highest value applications of prediction markets.” Here’s a description of the markets that Robin has in mind: Decision markets could say whether this merger ... Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?
Conference Announcement: Merger Analysis in High Technology Markets at GMU
I am very pleased to announce the “Merger Analysis in High Technology Markets” on behalf of my colleague Tom Hazlett, myself, and the Information Economy Project of the National Center for Technology and Law. The conference will be held at George Mason University School of Law on February 1, 2008 from 8:15 am-2:30 pm. Below ... Conference Announcement: Merger Analysis in High Technology Markets at GMU
Supreme Court Denies Cert in Antitrust Case
The Supreme Court denied cert yesterday in Truck-Rail Handling Inc. v. Burlington Northern & Sante Fe Railway Co., U.S., No. 07-693 (HT: Danny Sokol), where the 9th Circuit had affirmed summary judgment for the railroad company on the grounds that the plaintiff had not adequately defined relevant product markets. BNSF leased its terminal facilities to ... Supreme Court Denies Cert in Antitrust Case
My Nomination for TOTM Post of the Year
If traffic and number of comments are any indication, this one from Geoff on the antitrust analysis of the Whole Foods/ Wild Oats merger certainly attracted the most attention. Its been a fun year of of blogging. Thanks to all of the TOTM bloggers, guests, commenters, and readers for making it so interesting! Happy New ... My Nomination for TOTM Post of the Year
The Best Antitrust Articles of 2007
Danny Sokol has collected picks from antitrust specialists around the globe. There were plenty of excellent articles and books to pick from but I ultimately selected this article from Keith Hylton and Fei Deng and this book on the Microsoft Case from Bill Page and John Lopatka. You can see the rest of the picks ... The Best Antitrust Articles of 2007
Cleaning up after Pasquale's hit job
Recently, Frank Pasquale at Concurring Opinions wrote a blog post did a drive-by hit on FTC Chairman Majoras supporting her recusal from considering the Google/DoubleClick merger now pending before the FTC.  You really have to read the post to get the full effect of the innuendo and intimation–it’s masterfully subtle. At the time I commented on ... Cleaning up after Pasquale's hit job
Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
A trio of Federal Trade Commission economists (Christopher Taylor, Paul Zimmerman, & Nicholas Kreisle) have revisited Justine Hastings’ 2004 AER analysis of the ARCO/ Thrifty vertical merger in their paper, “Vertical Relationships and Competition in the Retail Gasoline Market: Comment.” (HT: Danny Sokol). Hastings’ analysis is viewed as particularly important because it is one of ... Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
Prediction Markets & XM/Sirius
I had never heard of Intrade before. Maybe I live in a hole. Let’s see here: I’d love to short the bid for Dec. 07 if it wasn’t at zero. No way I’d touch the 10 ask. I think there’s over a 90% chance this goes into next year. The bid/ask spread is so big for ... Prediction Markets & XM/Sirius
Franchising, Starbucks vs. Subway, and Promotional Services
Professor Bainbridge offers a correction to Keith’s Starbucks analysis by pointing out that Starbucks does not have franchisees. I don’t think the franchise/ franchisee distinction has much to do with Keith’s conclusion that whatever is going on is not an antitrust problem. But the Professor is on to a really cool question about franchising and ... Franchising, Starbucks vs. Subway, and Promotional Services
The Prediction Markets on XM/Sirius
Paul asks about the Vegas odds on XM/ Sirius merger approval. Its not quite Vegas, but Intrade is offering contracts on merger approval on or before December 2007, March 2008, and June 2008. They’re trading at 5, 50, and 70 respectively.  So Paul, any of those contracts look good to you?